Brand Neo World

by Zennistrad

Mirror, Mirror

Author's Note:

This was an idea for a crossover fic I had back in 2018-2019 or so, back when a mutual friend on Tumblr had gotten me back into Neopets after not touching the site since I was a kid. I was too busy with other fic projects to really do anything with it, but now that I'm a bit more free I decided to refine this concept into a full story.

For those unfamiliar with Neopets, I would recommend reading through the old story comic The Faeries' Ruin, as most of the Neopets characters in this fic come directly from that storyline. It's no longer visible on the main site due to the death of Adobe Flash, but a helpful user on Tumblr has archived the entire comic here:

https://bunnyneobody.tumblr.com/post/183332044839/the-faeries-ruin-chapter-list

It felt weirdly nostalgic, visiting Canterlot Castle again.

The last time Sunset Shimmer had taken the time to visit her old home, it had been under decidedly more tense circumstances. She wouldn’t have even thought to visit had the Memory Stone Incident not forced her hand… or hoof, as it were. But despite Sunset’s apprehensions, Princess Celestia welcomed her back with open wings. It felt like a miracle, as if she had never left her mentor’s side at all.

And now that things had finally begun to calm down a bit, Sunset had made sure to keep in touch with Celestia, using her magical journal to write to her as well as Twilight. Naturally, when Celestia invited her to stay at Canterlot Castle, she almost jumped at the opportunity.

“So then I say to her, ‘you want how much for a paint brush!?’”

Princess Celestia smiled warmly as she sat across from Sunset at the table on the castle balcony, gently sipping from a teacup she held in her magical grip. “Oh my. I never thought art supplies would be so expensive.”

“I know, right?” Sunset continued. “She tried to pass it off as a ‘magical artifact’ or some such nonsense. Just because magic exists in the human world now, every scam artist and their mother thinks they can pass off their crap as some expensive luxury.”

“I suppose it makes sense. Humans always did have a fascination with magic, even if it was only a faerie tale to them,” said Princess Celestia. “Or so Star Swirl had told me.”

“Star Swirl?” said Sunset. “Oh yeah, he’s the one who invented the Crystal Mirror, isn’t he? I guess it makes sense he’d have visited the human world at least once.”

“Indeed,” said Celestia. “If I’m honest, I’ve always been a little jealous of his inter-planar travels. He’s visited multiple other worlds, you know.”

Sunset could feel her ears standing straight up, as if they were snapping to attention. “Wait, you mean like... parallel realities? Like a world where you and Princess Luna are evil, or something like that?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that! You’ve been reading too many comics lately, haven’t you?”

“Wha— no! They’re graphic novels, I swear!”

Celestia said nothing, but the sound of her teasing laughter was more enough to speak for her.

Sunset rolled her eyes and groaned. “Ugh, whatever. Point is, there’s other worlds besides the human world, right? What are they like?”

Celestia took another sip of her tea. “Believe me, I’d like to know just as much as you. Sadly, Star Swirl never spoke much of his travels. Though I imagine these other worlds would be quite unlike what you or I are used to.”

“Never even told you anything, huh?” said Sunset. “Didn’t even try to explain what he was up to?”

“ Well, he was my mentor,” said Celestia. “ And if there’s one thing I know about mentors, it’s that they can be rather less than straightforward.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “ I wasn’t aware that was part of the job description.” ...But that certainly does explain a lot.

“Oh, you have no idea,” said Celestia with a laugh. “But that’s a story for another time. Why don’t you tell me more about what you’ve been up to in the human world? Any new friends you’ve made?”

Sunset happily answered, but not before noticing that there was a particular gleam in the Princess’s eye.

----

Much to Sunset’s disappointment, her remaining time with Princess Celestia did not last very long. The day-to-day demands of ruling Equestria had kept her as busy as ever, despite Princess Luna taking on half the responsibilities since her return. Perhaps it was because Equestria had gone through numerous major historical events in recent years, or perhaps having twice as many rulers made things twice as complicated to manage.

Either way, it meant that Celestia had far less time to speak with her than Sunset had hoped. While the Princess was busy, she made do with reading through various books within the Royal Library.

She’d almost forgotten just how expansive the library was, and how fascinating the study of magic was. The human world did have some magic now, thanks to Equestrian mana leaking through the portal, but it was a far more wild and chaotic form of magic than that which existed in her home world . Here, magic could be understood, could be studied.

And study it Sunset had, for the early years of her life were dedicated to intense magical scholarship, hoping to unlock the very secrets of the cosmos itself. She was gifted, she knew that much. And with that gift, she was certain she would accomplish great things. She could do anything, be anything. Or so she thought.

A twinge of regret struck the center of Sunset’s chest. She didn’t like thinking too hard about her old attitude, but there was no denying that it had fundamentally shaped the path of her life forever. And in a way, if she hadn’t been so intoxicated by the promise of power, she would have never met Twilight Sparkle, or any of the other wonderful friends she had now.

It was a bittersweet thought, knowing that she had to be a horrible megalomaniac before she could become who she is now. But it was proof that a person like her could turn herself around, could become someone better. And that was worth something, at least

And as she read through the library’s myriad tomes, Sunset started to see things in them that she hadn’t seen before. Spells that she had previously dismissed for being ‘useless,’ she could now see uses for. They might not have been able to help her impose her will on the world, but they could bring joy to the hearts of others, and bring people together. It was like her eyes had been opened to an entirely new side of magic, one which she had never even considered had existed.

A spell that can make any food taste like cotton candy? Oh, Pinkie would love this.

She was so engrossed by her study, that she failed to notice how much time had passed.

“Sunset? Are you there?”

The voice of Princess Celestia crossed her ears, and Sunset removed her nose from the book it was buried in. Sure enough, Celestia was standing in the doorway, eyes gazing down upon her.

“Hm. Oh, hey Princess. Something you need?”

“It’s almost dusk, Sunset. I’m going to be lowering the sun soon. Shouldn’t you be heading back to the human world as well? You wouldn’t want to miss school.”

“It’s Spring Break. I don’t have…” Sunset let out a yawn, interrupting herself before she could finish. “…I guess I should probably head back, though. Gonna join Twilight on a cruise later this week. Human Twilight. You know what I mean.”

“Oh, my. Sounds exciting!”

“Honestly? I hope it isn’t,” said Sunset. She stood up, carefully levitating her book back onto its place the shelf. “Every time I try to do something fun lately, it turns into some magical disaster I have to fix. I just wanna relax, you know what I mean?”

“Of course, That’s perfectly reasonable,” said Celestia. “It’s only natural to want a break from all the stress every now and then.”

“Glad you understand,” said Sunset. She approached the Princess, and looked her in the eye. “So, um… I guess I should be heading off then.”

Without another word, Sunset leaned in, and pulled Celestia into a hug. The soft warmth of the Princess’s wings against her body made her shudder slightly. And when Sunset left the embrace, she could still feel that warmth lingering across her body, filling her with a sensation that she had so desperately lacked for so long.

“So I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?”

“Of course,” said Celestia. “But don’t be a stranger, you hear?”

With one final wave goodbye, Sunset parted ways with Princess Celestia. She made her way down the corridor, towards the chamber where the Crystal Mirror was kept.

Ordinarily, the artifact was only supposed to connect to the human world once every thirty moons. But thanks to Princess Twilight’s own research, the artifact had been heavily modified. By connecting it to the magic journal Sunset kept to communicate across worlds, the Mirror was able to remain active at all times.

It wasn’t until she had entered the Crystal Mirror chamber that Sunset began to realize something was amiss.

The last time Sunset had crossed worlds, the Crystal Mirror had been moved to Princess Twilight’s castle in Ponyville. She had been told, ahead of her visit to Equestria, that it had been moved back to Canterlot Castle for the sake of her convenience.

But the mirror… she now noticed that it looked markedly different from what she remembered of it. She hadn’t paid much mind to it, on her way to Equestria. Nobody really cared about shape of door frame, or the dimensions of a window. An aperture was simply a means to an end, a simple connection between point A and point B.

Now that the excitement and nostalgia of getting to visit her old home again had worn off, it was much easier to notice the discrepancies. The machinery that was hooked to the mirror looked the same, but it was no longer showing any signs of activity. No idle humming, no hisses of steam or crackle of magical static, no sign that the added modifications had any function beyond aesthetics.

More importantly, the frame of the mirror was a different color entirely. Instead of a purple horseshoe-shaped rim, it was instead a vibrant pink frame shaped vaguely like… butterfly wings?

An epiphany struck Sunset, followed immediately by a deep pang of dread.

“This… this isn’t the Crystal Mirror,” Sunset said to herself. “But it was connected to the Wondercolt statue. I… I came through here, on my way to Equestria. How?”

As her heartbeat thumped heavily in her chest, Sunset stepped forward, gazing at the strange new mirror she had somehow never noticed.

“What… is this?” said Sunset. “Did Princess Celestia have another mirror all along? And… how did she get it to connect to the human world?”

As if to answer, the mirror’s glass began to glow. It was a subtle pink shine at first, but it grew rapidly more intense, growing brighter and brighter as the portal stirred with magical power.

“W-wait! Hold on, I’m not ready! Wait—”

Sunset’s words were cut short, as her entire body was consumed in a sudden flash of light.